When creating a company, the business plan cannot be effective without being followed by a commercial strategy. Once all the elements have been analyzed and the main issues identified, particularly through a market study, it is advisable to take real actions according to the objectives set. Here are 5 steps to follow to create a relevant commercial strategy.
1. Define your priorities and objectives
Developing a business strategyrequires, above all, the definition of precise objectives and priorities. To do this, it is necessary to be well informed in advance about the possibilities, market trends and the means to achieve them.
It is important to define both long-term and short-term goals . For example, plan to reach 100 customers in the first two weeks atlaunching your business, but also plan a goal over several months, or even over the year.
These objectives must be quantified and determined for a duration , so you will be able to know if your objectives are achieved on time. We must also keep in mind that these objectives must be achievable, that is to say that they are not disproportionate in relation to their feasibility.
2. Target an audience
Loyalty being a major issue in commercial strategy, it must be approached according to a targeted audience. The challenge of this step is to determine the categories of potential customers and the strategic means of reaching them. For example, if your company is going to deploy an activity aimed broadly at the general public, the use of any social network could be just as relevant as advertising displays in public places. If, on the contrary, it is aimed at a purely professional audience, it will be necessary to favor interprofessional events, professional social networks, etc.
It may be appropriate to establish a typical profile , which is then used to consider loyalty. To do this, you can use several methods, such as “Personas” for example. Based on factual data such as age, the number of employees in a company or the gender of a person, but also based on emotional data such as habits, desires or sensitivity to external facts, this method allows you to obtain a set of elements aimed at defining a typical profile. It will be useful for subsequent prospecting.
3. Implement a series of means and actions to achieve the objectives
If the development of a commercial strategy inevitably involves the implementation of marketing and commercial means, these must be clearly defined. To this end, you must be aware of several pieces of information. First of all and depending on your final objectives, you must take into account the market price, the one you are considering, but also the cost of the means of advertising and communication, and the personnel required to manage all the tasks relating to the actions to be carried out. carry out. If you plan to deploy a marketing campaign involving important visuals, for example, you should find out both about the communication channels (emails, press relations, social networks, advertising or press inserts, etc.) but also about the creation of this visual (hiring, use of an external service provider, personal creation, specific tools, etc.). On the other hand, the product distribution channel or access to your services must be controlled (web, specialized stores or mass distribution stores, etc.).
4. Follow up using tools
In practice, to follow the evolution of your commercial strategy, the implementation of a monitoring tool is essential. The growth of a company cannot be envisaged without an inventory of the progress of the commercial strategy . Questioning is sometimes required, but for this you need to be able to see the gaps, obstacles or errors.
This could be as simple as a table file where you determine what to consider, or tools such as project management software.
5. Adjust your strategy based on monitoring data
Whether the market is changing, competitors are emerging, or your established business strategy is proving ineffective, your actions may need adjustment .
The prioritized means of communication appears less effective than expected? The target audience is not favorable to your approach? Telephone prospecting is not bearing fruit? In line with your monitoring tool, all the information collected can be useful to you to improve your actions. However, the gaps must be highlighted and measured in order to be able tooptimize the commercial strategy.
Whether it is a new company or a company that wants to boost its sales, there is no secret: the performance and growth of a company necessarily involve a phase of tests, observations and adaptation if necessary.